Yarrr! Captain Taco here with a report about pirates in the air. That's right pirates are no longer just in the high seas of water, but now are in the sea of clouds as well. Sea of Clouds is a board game that puts you against up to 3 other sky pirate captains to get the most loot and become the most feared pirate in the skies. Players will earn money from treasure and rum, while fending off the other sky pirates from stealing your goods. You will need to make tough decisions on which loot shares are worth picking up and which are worth leaving to the others to fight over. You will recruit pirates to fight on your ship when the time comes and if victorious, you will receive some nice plunder as well. Are you up for trading in your sea legs for some air ...legs? If so then I invite you to read along as I give you my take on Sea of Clouds.

Components Iello Games has brought us many colorful and eye pleasing games. Sea of Clouds continues that trend and adds something new. The new level that Iello Games hit was with an insert that stores the game perfectly. I really like the fact that there is very little wasted space and the organizer holds everything nicely and makes sense. Sea Clouds actual components are also very nice and continue that nice standard that they have set with their games in the past. Cards are semi glossy but made from a very sturdy card stock. The art for the whole game is very colorful and eye catching. The tie breaker parrot is a nice addition because who doesn't want to be a pirate captain with a parrot. The player boards and map board are very thick and sturdy. This game should handle wear and tear very well. The game also comes with cardboard coins that are your standard quality. The rule book is beautifully illustrated and explains all the details of the game. I wish the card clarifications area could have included more cards that had a few ways to interrupt how they are played. Either way you will be able to read this rule book in as little as 5 minutes and be able to teach the game to others just as fast.

Gameplay Sea of Clouds is a game of risk/reward with elements of set collection weaved in. Each turn players are choosing their loot and adding it to their pirate board. After you leave certain marked islands, you will all attack each other. After you completed getting loot from the last island and a final combat, the loot will be totaled and the pirate with the most victory points in the end is the victor of Sea of Clouds.

The map board has a trail leading to 15 islands. After every fifth island you will perform the attack step. Before I explain that, I am going to explain what happens on the islands each turn. Each island represents a round. After everyone completes the round, the pirate ship marker will move to the next island. Below the map are 3 loot share spaces, the game starts off with a card face down in each of the loot share spaces. During your turn, you will look at the face down loot cards in the first loot share space (leftmost space). You then have 2 options. You can take the loot cards from that share spot and adding a new card from the loot deck to loot share space after you have taken the cards, or you can leave the share and add a face down card from the loot deck to the loot share space. If you choose to leave the loot share, you will move on to the next loot share space and look at those cards. You will make this choice again and will go through the steps again for the third loot share. If you decide you do not want any of the loot shares, you will get the top card from the loot deck and your turn will be over. Once you decide to leave a share, you can not go back to it this round. If you decide to take a loot share, your turn is over and you will not inspect any further loot shares this round.

There are 4 types of loot cards. Each will be placed in a separate area of your pirate board. Rum cards provide victory points and can earn more by having the most and collecting multiple Collector's Rum. Rum Cards will be placed face down on the bottom of your pirate board. On the right side of the pirate board you will place relics face up. Relics provide victory points based on how many of each you collect. On the top of the pirate boards will be the pirates you recruited for the coming battle. On the left side of the board will be were you keep treasure cards. Treasure cards are face up unless they are marked with a seal. Seal treasure cards are end game scoring cards and are stored with your Rum face down. Treasure cards can be traps that hurt you or equipment that can help you. Other treasure will provide other benefits like increased money for battle victories.

Now that you have some loot and hopefully recruited some pirates to your crew, you will be ready to battle after your fifth/tenth/final island. Each player will total up their pirate strength and compare it to the players to their left and right. If your strength is higher you will the battle against that opponent. Starting with the person who has the pirate token, you will resolve pirate victory effects. If a person has no victories, they are skipped over and moved on to the next pirate. The victorious pirate will settle all effects with each victory separately. That means if you beat both players, then you will carry out the effects twice unless it states on the card that the effect only happens once. The various effects include, gaining money or loot from the bank/deck, stealing money or loot from the losing player, or exchanging cards with the losing player. After everyone has settled their effects the battle is over with and all pirate cards are discarded. After the ship has before one last boarding battle on the final island, you will total up your victory points to determine a winner.

Final Thoughts Sea of Clouds acts as a nice entry level game that plays in under an hour. This is a game that kids will enjoy and new comers to the hobby will not feel overwhelmed by what is all going on. There are some great choices to make in this game, like deciding to skip getting pirates and focus on collecting relics. No single strategy is superior to others. The game is very eye catching and was enjoyed by everyone I played with. Some cards may take a minute or two to figure out but for the most part this is a very easy game to learn. The game has enough risk taking to make seasoned gamers enjoy the game. The components for the game are good quality. I would recommend this to families or those newer to the hobby. Also who doesn't love sky pirates. Normally I would be keeping this in my collection but I am giving it to a friend who really enjoyed playing it with his wife. I look forward to playing this with them again soon.

Taco gives Sea of Clouds a rating of...

7.25 out of 10

Pros:+Colorful and very sturdy components+ Great insert+ A nice entry level game to teach set collection and risk/reward mechanics+Sky Pirate theme+Rule book explains the game very well

Cons:- Some cards may take a little time to understand- Card Clarification area could have added a few more cards- Theme does not show through the gameplay